Wednesday, July 31, 2013

We
are so excited to announce our 'big' deal for the summer!!! We have
several promotions happening for you to take advantage of over the next
three months, July, August and September.First, You can earn a free Buyer's Club membership with everyone membership you purchase.Second,
You can earn free Advertising on our blog and in our monthly newsletter
when you sign-up for our latest and greatest Advertising option. Email
us for details at: marsha@marketsofsunshine.comThird,
You can earn a free 'Gifts of Sunshine' bag with everyone you purchase
during the next three months. Simple tell us in the comment box at
check-out which two themes you would like to purchase.

Summer
means weekends at the BBQ, Pool Parties, Beach excursions, theme park
outings and more! Why not have a mid-week party with Country Gourmet Home!
We have so many fun and yummy food party themes to choose from, like
our Taco party, Ice Cream Sundae party, Crazy Salad party and Chocolate
Lover's party just to name a few.Contact me
today to book your party! We do online parties, catalog parties and
in-home parties! So, pick your theme and pick your party and give us a
call!

Visit us on Facebook and find out where we got these great recipes and gardening tips from!

DIY Paper Dolls

This is a great rainy-day or
any-day project for the kids. Create a paper doll kit: Store the
materials in a box or basket so they'll be ready anytime the kids want
to play. To create the kit, print out a bunch of doll templates, cut out
the fabric clothing and gather together buttons, ribbons and glue
sticks.

Exclusive New Offer!See what we have added new on the Weekly Specials page. Try before you buy offers! Get them while they last!

Ready to show off your handiwork to the world? Become a vendor of our Marketplace here!We
are also launching a new coupon book for our vendors to advertise their
products in at the beginning of August 2013! Contact us for details to
have your business included for one low fee!

Did
you read my Facebook post today? If so, you know I am offering
something really fun today only!!! ****The first person to leave a blog
comment today and follow our blog wins a July Gifts of Sunshine bag!!!
Woot!!! *** Send an email to me with your mailing address and full name
to marsha@marketsofsunshine.com

Let's see who reads my Facebook posts and who wants to win something fun today!!!

Being Green Is Not Easy!!! But Someone Has to Do It!!! Who Better Than Markets of Sunshine!!!

Monday, July 22, 2013

We are making room for our Fall collection of handmade gifts of sunshine bags and passing the savings on to you for our summer bags.

You can now get up to five handmade products for only $8 while supplies last. Visit our Etsy shop to pick up as many as you want before they are all gone! click here!

We are so excited to announce our 'big' deal for the summer!!! We have several promotions happening for you to take advantage of over the next three months, July, August and September.First, You can earn a free Buyer's Club membership with everyone membership you purchase.Second, You can earn free Advertising on our blog and in our monthly newsletter when you sign-up for our latest and greatest Advertising option. Email us for details at: marsha@marketsofsunshine.comThird, You can earn a free 'Gifts of Sunshine' bag with everyone you purchase during the next three months. Simple tell us in the comment box at check-out which two themes you would like to purchase.

Summer means weekends at the BBQ, Pool Parties, Beach excursions, theme park outings and more! Why not have a mid-week party with Country Gourmet Home! We have so many fun and yummy food party themes to choose from, like our Taco party, Ice Cream Sundae party, Crazy Salad party and Chocolate Lover's party just to name a few.Contact me today to book your party! We do online parties, catalog parties and in-home parties! So, pick your theme and pick your party and give us a call!

Visit us on Facebook and find out where we got these great recipes and gardening tips from!

Exclusive New Offer!See what we have added new on the Weekly Specials page. Try before you buy offers! Get them while they last!

Ready to show off your handiwork to the world? Become a vendor of our Marketplace here!We are also launching a new coupon book for our vendors to advertise their products in at the beginning of August 2013! Contact us for details to have your business included for one low fee!
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Being Green Is Not Easy!!! But Someone Has to Do It!!! Who Better Than Markets of Sunshine!!!

Sunday, July 14, 2013

We
are so excited to announce our 'big' deal for the summer!!! We have
several promotions happening for you to take advantage of over the next
three months, July, August and September.First, You can earn a free Buyer's Club membership with everyone membership you purchase.Second,
You can earn free Advertising on our blog and in our monthly newsletter
when you sign-up for our latest and greatest Advertising option. Email
us for details at: marsha@marketsofsunshine.comThird,
You can earn a free 'Gifts of Sunshine' bag with everyone you purchase
during the next three months. Simple tell us in the comment box at
check-out which two themes you would like to purchase.

Summer
means weekends at the BBQ, Pool Parties, Beach excursions, theme park
outings and more! Why not have a mid-week party with Country Gourmet Home!
We have so many fun and yummy food party themes to choose from, like
our Taco party, Ice Cream Sundae party, Crazy Salad party and Chocolate
Lover's party just to name a few.Contact me
today to book your party! We do online parties, catalog parties and
in-home parties! So, pick your theme and pick your party and give us a
call!

Visit us on Facebook and find out where we got these great recipes and gardening tips from!

Cilantro Lime Slaw

Cuisine: American

Recipe type: Salads

Serves: 8

Prep time: 20 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Ingredients

½ head of green cabbage

2 carrots

½ red bell pepper

⅓ cup of mayonnaise

3 garlic gloves

¼ cup cilantro

juice of 3 limes

salt and pepper

Instructions

Finely chop cabbage into bite-sized pieces, place into large bowl

Peel skin from carrots then grate carrots into bowl

Finely julianne red bell pepper, add to bowl

Create dressing by blending together mayo, garlic, cilantro and lime juice until combined.

Toss dressing with other ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste, serve chilled.

Heirlooms, the Garden Treasury

Completely Revised and Updated February 25, 2013

Vegetarians who treasure the moments spent in the vegetable garden can
find even greater treasures with heirloom seeds that may be as old as
their grandfathers. Anyone who has lovingly tended the plants for that
specially awaited day to pluck a ripe tomato or a squash off the vine
can agree that homegrown heirloom vegetables have unmatchable richness
of flavor, sweetness, and juiciness, but wait--it can get even better.
When you discover the many unique features of heirloom varieties, you'll
surely be hooked. You'll find seeds that have a long history, a
pedigree, so to speak. You may be growing purple string beans, tomatoes
of unusual shapes and colors, little round white eggplants, and beans
for drying and soup-making that your great grandmother might have grown
in her garden.
Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, placed such
high value on his garden, he sought out fruits and vegetables brought to
America by explorers from all parts of Europe. Today, visitors to
Jefferson's home in Monticello can see varieties of vegetable and
flowers that Jefferson himself once grew. Some of the seeds planted at
Monticello may be almost 200 years old, an awesome concept and a perfect
example of treasured heirlooms.
Each year, in December and January, commercial seed companies sell
attractive, relatively inexpensive seed packets to home gardeners
through seed catalogs and garden shops. Anything from root vegetables
and beans to eggplant, tomatoes, and okra are available. Though these
catalogs are filled with appealing color photographs of your favorite
vegetables, what they're selling are hybrid seeds, seeds that have
actually been bred for the commercial grower.
Hybridized plants are the result of a cross between two varieties. For
instance, two varieties of tomatoes are chosen because each has
particular traits the grower wants to cultivate. When seeds are taken
from the cross-pollinated tomato, these seeds will not be able to
reproduce this crossed variety, but will revert back to one of the
parents. Heirlooms, which are open-pollinated plants, on the other hand,
reproduce themselves generation after generation.
Commercial growers who grow only hybridized crops risk the danger of a
fungus or plant disease destroying their entire crop. It happened in the
famous Irish potato famine in the 1840s where farmers were growing only
one variety of potatoes. Disease destroyed their entire crop and
millions of people died. Their variety of potato had no resistance to
that particular disease, one of the pitfalls of hybridized vegetable
crops. With the diversity of plant varieties offered by preserving
heirlooms, many plants develop resistance to certain pests, preventing
the total crop loss experienced in Ireland.
The commercial grower wants to breed fruits and vegetables that are
uniform in size, ripen all at once, have the same color and shape, and
that can be transported to market without spoilage. Invariably, it's the
flavor that's lost. We've all purchased fruits and vegetables from the
supermarket that tempted us with their bright colors and plump
appearance but have too often given us that flavor let-down. The home
gardener, too, may not always have success with these hybrid seeds and
may feel discouraged.
Flavor is not the only feature lost with breeding hybrids. Thousands of
varieties of unique vegetables and fruits have been lost to us. In the
early 1900s nearly 7,000 varieties of apples existed in this country.
Today, that number has shrunken to less than 1,000. Unfortunately, a
similar pattern exists for most of our fruit and vegetable varieties.
Consider, instead, ferreting out companies that specialize in heirloom
seeds. Many of these seeds are of varieties that are more than150 years
old, such as lettuces with exotic names like Rouge d'Hiver and Little
Gem. Some heirloom seeds come from other parts of the world and have
enriched our table with such treats as exotic peppers from South
America; Mache, a delicate variety of lettuce from Europe; or Pintong
Long, bright purple, long thin eggplant from Taiwan.
Preserving heirloom seeds gives people a sense of history and cultural
heritage. By growing heirloom plants and saving the seeds, we can all
participate in saving many varieties from extinction and preserving
plants with special genetic traits. In becoming a seed saver of
heirlooms, we can pass on the rich history with which many plants are
endowed. If you can learn the origins of your seeds, pass this heritage
on to your family members and share these seeds with other growers of
heirlooms. In this way it is possible to save special varieties not
commonly grown.
Today, many of us are concerned about the widespread practice of genetic
engineering and the unknown consequences of genetically modified foods.
Taking up heirloom gardening reassures us that we can enjoy vegetables
and fruits that are pure, natural, unchanged, and in complete harmony
with nature.
Heirloom seeds have special features that distinguish them from hybrid seeds:

The variety of seed should be able to reproduce itself.
For example, one variety of tomato that has been saved for generation
after generation of plantings will produce that same variety of tomato.

Antique seeds are always self-pollinated or
open-pollinated and will produce plants with the same traits planting
after planting, generation after generation. Hybrid seeds will not be
able to reproduce plants with exactly the same traits.

The variety of seed must have been introduced at
least 50 years ago, though some heirloom gardeners say they must be at
least 100 years old. In recent years, however, varieties with shorter
histories are considered heirloom because of their uniqueness.

The particular cultivar, or variety, must have a
special history. Perhaps one can trace the plant's origins to a
particular region of the country. Or, perhaps seeds have been saved by
farming families who can recall that their great grandparents brought
them from Europe.

Today there is a growing interest in preserving heirloom varieties of
fruits and vegetables along with their histories. Among the groups that
have made special efforts to collect and save heirloom seeds are the
Amish, the Mennonites, and Native Americans. There are seed companies
devoted exclusively to saving and selling heirloom seeds and plants.
Many universities are developing ecology departments that take a special
interest in the preservation of heirloom seeds.
Many of us don't have the time or opportunity to grow our own heirloom
vegetables, but we can make an effort to support those who do. In recent
years, there are many small farmers who grow heirloom tomatoes, beans,
cucumbers, and eggplants and bring them to the shoppers who frequent
farmers' markets.
What a delight to introduce the family to varieties of tomatoes with
unique shapes and colors never seen in the supermarket! Unmatchable
sweetness, fragrance, and juiciness are the outstanding features that
beckon us to choose historical tomatoes over the hybrids. By seeking out
these farmers and enjoying their treasures, you're helping to preserve
old time varieties and encouraging farmers to sustain the tradition of
the heirloom garden.

Exclusive New Offer!See what we have added new on the Weekly Specials page. Try before you buy offers! Get them while they last!

Ready to show off your handiwork to the world? Become a vendor of our Marketplace here!We
are also launching a new coupon book for our vendors to advertise their
products in at the beginning of August 2013! Contact us for details to
have your business included for one low fee!

Did you read my Facebook post today? If so, you know I am offering something really fun today only!!! ****The first person to leave a blog comment today and follow our blog wins a July Gifts of Sunshine bag!!! Woot!!! *** Send an email to me with your mailing address and full name to marsha@marketsofsunshine.com

Let's see who reads my Facebook posts and who wants to win something fun today!!!

Being Green Is Not Easy!!! But Someone Has to Do It!!! Who Better Than Markets of Sunshine!!!

Sunday, July 7, 2013

We are so excited to announce our 'big' deal for the summer!!! We have several promotions happening for you to take advantage of over the next three months, July, August and September.First, You can earn a free Buyer's Club membership with everyone membership you purchase.Second, You can earn free Advertising on our blog and in our monthly newsletter when you sign-up for our latest and greatest Advertising option. Email us for details at: marsha@marketsofsunshine.comThird, You can earn a free 'Gifts of Sunshine' bag with everyone you purchase during the next three months. Simple tell us in the comment box at check-out which two themes you would like to purchase.

Summer means weekends at the BBQ, Pool Parties, Beach excursions, theme park outings and more! Why not have a mid-week party with Country Gourmet Home! We have so many fun and yummy food party themes to choose from, like our Taco party, Ice Cream Sundae party, Crazy Salad party and Chocolate Lover's party just to name a few.Contact me today to book your party! We do online parties, catalog parties and in-home parties! So, pick your theme and pick your party and give us a call!

Exclusive New Offer!See what we have added new on the Weekly Specials page. Try before you buy offers! Get them while they last!

Ready to show off your handiwork to the world? Become a vendor of our Marketplace here!We are also launching a new coupon book for our vendors to advertise their products in at the beginning of August 2013! Contact us for details to have your business included for one low fee!

Being Green Is Not Easy, But Someone Has to Do It! Who Better Than Markets of Sunshine!!!